“Unwelcome changes; SDL wrestles with cost overruns at school construction projects” is the Intelligencer Journal New Era front page headline. The article goes on to describe how the architects, DLR Group, “failed to include the work in the bid specifications.” The ‘extras’ currently amount to $1,115,200…
Month: March 2010
Further signs of U. S. economic recovery
From BLOOMBERG: The strengthening U.S. economy, subdued inflation and rising stock prices are propelling the dollar rally into its fifth month as traders seek refuge from Europe’s fiscal crisis and Japanese deflation… A year after correctly predicting the currency’s decline and likening it to the fall of Rome, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s Alan Ruskin said it may soar 22 percent to $1.10 per euro if Greece defaults.
Effects of a convention on downtown business
There are reports on Lancaster Online’s TalkBack that businesses in the 300 block of North Queen Street suffered a noticeable loss of business during the recent quilt convention. A theory is that locals stayed away to avoid heavy downtown traffic, and visitors spent all of their time in or near the convention center.
Health Care: What Did We Get? Where Are We? And, Where Do We Go From Here?
A year ago health care was in crisis. Its cost burdened individuals, businesses, and all levels of government. Americans were dying at a rate of 45,000 per year due to lack of access to health care, health care bankruptcies were rising. Change was urgently needed. The crisis was an opportunity to create the best health care system in the world.
China’s Geely to Buy Volvo From Ford for $1.8 Billion
From BLOOMBERG: — Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. agreed to buy Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co. for $1.8 billion in the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese automaker. The deal will close in the third quarter, after which Ford and Volvo will continue to cooperate, Ford Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth told reporters today in […]
Obama in Afghanistan as U.S. Steps Up Taliban Fight
From BLOOMBERG: — President Barrack Obama landed in Afghanistan today on an unannounced visit to meet with Afghan government officials and U.S. military leaders… Landing at Bagram Air Base under the cover of darkness, Obama travelled the 50 miles to Kabul by helicopter to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace. Obama also […]
Next Year in the White House: A Seder Tradition
From the NEW YORK TIMES One evening in April 2008, three low-level staff members from the Obama presidential campaign — a baggage handler, a videographer and an advance man — gathered in the windowless basement of a Pennsylvania hotel for an improvised Passover Seder. The day had been long, the hour was late, and the young […]
SUNDAY NEWS
In “Live by the Fox, die by the fox”, columnist Gil Smart opens: “Stop for a moment and consider how much better the health care reform bill might have been had Republicans participated in the legislative process, rather than stood in the proverbial hospital door: “Tort reform, for example, might have been part of the […]
SUNDAY NEWS
Under “Quotes of the Week” and from Dr. Holmes Morton, new chair of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music: “We hear people say it’s a great place and they want it to survive. But…that wish is not represented by donations. If the community does not come forward it simply isn’t going to be there.” WATCHDOG: Did […]
Quilters give downtown high marks; Not so happy with busing
The American Quilter’s Society annual show is the first event of such magnitude to come to the Lancaster County Convention Center. In many ways, this week serves as a test of the center’s capacity to host such an event, the city’s capacity to handle such an influx of traffic, and the capacity of Downtown Lancaster to welcome visiting conventioneers.
A STIMULUS PLAN FOR MEXICAN GANGSTERS
Obama’s Promise Not To Crack Down On Medical-Marijuana Use Raises The Stakes For Traffickers. WALL STREET JOURNAL COLUMN:…Mexico’s young democracy is already paying a high price for the lethal combination of prohibition and strong gringo demand for mind-altering substances. Drug violence has escalated as Mexican suppliers intent on satisfying appetites across the border have tangled with each other and law enforcement. Now the U.S. is getting ready to raise the incentives for gangsters…
Allawi coalition has narrow win in Iraqi poll
FINANCIAL TIMES: A secular coalition led by Iyad Allawi narrowly won the most seats in this month’s Iraq parliamentary elections, according to results released Friday night. The announcement has set the stage for the potentially rare dismissal of an Arab leader at the polls.
The results mark a remarkable turnaround for Mr Allawi, who served as prime minister in 2004 in the wake of the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein, and a blow to Nouri -al-Maliki, the current prime minister.
Regulating gambling: Difference between PA and NJ
From the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Not all state gaming oversight agencies are equal. Just consider how New Jersey and Pennsylvania gaming officials handled separate high-profile cases involving casino operators with alleged mob ties. Last week, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement essentially forced a Las Vegas casino operator to sell its 50 percent stake in […]
Free HPV Vaccinations for Males & Females 19 – 26
FREE HPV VACCINATIONS For Males & Females ages 19 – 26 4/22/2010 from 1:00pm until 5:00pm Urban League of Lancaster County 502 South Duke Street Lancaster, PA 17602 What is HPV? Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection. There are more than 40 HPV types that can infect the genital areas […]